AFAM continues its "Food for Thought" interview series. Our next guest is Guilhem Bau, a Cl 215 alumnus and Georgia Tech Graduate, currently a Machine Learning Engineer at Blendid.
Blendid is a young startup company founded in 2015 in SF Bay Area. The company offers healthy on the go food (smoothies) "combining creativity of a chef with precision of a robot".
AFAM: What do you do on a daily basis for your job?
Guilhem: I usually work on diverse tasks that could be related to recommendation system, computer vision, mechatronics or operation management. I usually switch from one to the other during the day. The best part would definitely be recipe testing!
AFAM: Is working for a Food Company your initial choice or a coincidence?
Guilhem: It's actually a coincidence, the food industry was appealing to me but I was primarily looking for a tech position so a tech job in a food company was a great match
AFAM: What makes a company you work for unique?
Guilhem: We are a startup creating fully autonomous smoothies kiosk. As we are one of the first company to develop such kiosks it makes it pretty unique and different from other traditional food companies.
AFAM: Did the fact of being French help you get where you are now?
Guilhem: It's definitely helped to get the chance to receive high quality education in France. AFAM and the French community were also very helpful! I also assume that French Engineers have a good reputation in the Silicon Valley.
AFAM: What can you say about Food Industry in general in the US, how is it different from that in France? Any thoughts?
Guilhem: As I never worked in the food industry in France, it's hard to compare. I would say that the food industry in the US has a lot to offer, it has a wide range of products, standards and opportunities.
AFAM: Thank you, Guilhem, for sharing!
Photo: Paul Chinn for the Chronicle - Blendid kiosk at the USF campus
Curious about the smoothies robot? More info on our website https://www.myblendid.com/
Read other interviews in our "Food for Thought" series:
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